Last Chance
by iMelinda
Summary: An alternate ending to Lurlene MacDaniel's book "A Rose for Melinda". What if Carlisle had been working at the hospital in Atlanta, and had decided to try to save Melinda by changing her?


The girl was worse. Much, much worse. The other doctors were considering a bone marrow transplant now, as a last-resort attempt to save her.

But I knew it wouldn't work. I'd seen too many cases of leukemia in my four hundred years, and I'd seen one like the girl's before. Without a brother or sister to donate the marrow, it was hopeless. It was kind of her mother to offer, but her bone marrow wouldn't be strong enough. It wouldn't take.

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell the other doctors all of this without revealing my immortality. I had told Alice to watch over things with her, though, in case, by some freak chance, she could pull through. There was a first time for everything.

What I couldn't understand, though, was why I was so attached to her. So many people died of leukemia each year, much to my dismay. Why should this girl be special?

Maybe it was because she looked so much like my dear Esme. But I thought it was something more, something stronger…

Ah, of course. Her parents had told the doctors she was a ballerina. She had been at an advanced school in Washington, D.C. before she was taken here. Her parents, especially her mother, were distraught. She had so much ahead of her… and then she got sick. In this shape, there was no way she could continue.

I really had to find out her name, somehow, without calling attention to my attraction to her. I could just walk over to the waiting room, where I knew her mother would be. I didn't even have to go in. My hearing was good enough that I would be able to hear through the closed door.

Then I remembered where I was. I couldn't leave in the middle of an operation. Luckily, I had thought all of this through so fast that the other doctor working with me hadn't noticed my pause. I would have to focus – something that was so hard to do, because I could work so much faster than Dr. Roberts. We could be done with this operation in seconds and it would still be perfect. I clenched my teeth ever so slightly, waiting impatiently for him to be finished stitching the wound.

"There," Dr. Roberts said at last. "All finished." Finally, my cue to leave while he filled out the paperwork.

Outside the operating room, the white hallway was empty, so I walked a little faster than usual to the waiting room. I stopped a dozen or so feet from the door, and began to listen.

I could hear the girl's mother in there, of course. It seemed that she was talking to one of the girl's friends.

"There's really no way to know, Jesse," the mother was saying. I inhaled sharply as I realized that she was talking to the boy who loved her daughter. The boy who would be heartbroken when she died. "But it doesn't look good."

"I can't think of it, Mrs. Skye," Jesse admitted. I could hear the catch in his voice that indicated he was on the verge of tears. "What will I do if Melinda doesn't make it?"

Melinda. So that was her name. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. And such a waste…

"We're going to try the bone marrow transplant," her mother declared. "I know it doesn't look good, especially without a sibling to donate the marrow, but Lenny and I have to try."

"She WILL make it," Jesse said stubbornly. "She has to."

My cell phone rang. The sound startled me – I never turned it off during work hours, but anyone who'd be calling me would know that I couldn't talk while I was at the hospital. I glanced at the number before flipping it open. What could Alice possibly want?

"Carlisle," Alice said, not even giving me a chance to greet her. "The girl you were having me watch – the one with leukemia – they've made a decision."

"I know," I responded. "They're going to do the BMT."

"They're going to destroy her immune system," she went on. "They're going to isolate her. Ten days of chemo."

"Alice, I know all of this," I told her, becoming slightly impatient. "Why are you calling?"

I think I knew it before she said it. The only reason Alice would call me during work was if something drastic had changed – if Melinda's situation had changed for the worse.

Alice's tone of voice changed. "I saw her get sick, despite the precautions – I saw her go into cardiac arrest. She _died_."

"But then it changed," Alice said. "As soon as you asked why I was calling, you knew, and you made a decision. I saw her as one of us."

I wasn't entirely surprised by this. The option had always been lurking in the back of my brain, just in case something went wrong.

"When should I do it?" I asked, already making plans. The whole family would have to disappear for this – the doctors would be suspicious when the girl disappeared from the hospital – but it would be worth it.

Her voice grew sharp. "Carlisle, what are you thinking? You're putting us all in jeopardy by doing this! Rosalie will be furious –"

I cut her off. "Rosalie was furious when Bella first knew about us, and now look where we are. Besides," I added before Alice could interrupt, "this isn't so different from when I rescued Edward."

"That was different," Alice hissed. "Edward had nothing left. His parents were dead, and he was dying, too! Records weren't accurately kept back then, but they are now. No one noticed him, but they _will_ notice her. She has parents, friends, even a _boyfriend_."

"It doesn't matter," I insisted. "They will lose her either way. But I can't let her die, when she has a chance at life."

I could almost see Alice rolling her eyes on the other end of the line. "You can't be reasoned with," she muttered. "But this reputation _will_ come back to haunt us, you can be sure of that." She hung up.

"We'll see," I said, my tone light.

I returned to Melinda's room. I lurked in the background, pretending to fill out paperwork, but really, I was listening in.

It became apparent that they were going to throw some sort of party before she went into isolation. It would be that night, because she'd be isolated the next day. I realized with a jolt that she had very little time – that _I _had very little time to save her.

I didn't have much experience with human emotion, but I could tell that the boy, Jesse, loved her. It would be unfair for me to rob him of that last chance to be with Melinda after the party – I heard Melinda, Jesse, and her other friend discuss how they were going to sneak out for some alone time. The other friend seemed jealous for some reason that I couldn't imagine, but I ignored her. I had more important plans.

This was a complication. Melinda and Jesse were going to stay up all night. With the doctors arriving first thing the next morning to take her for radiation, there would be no time to get her out of there without someone noticing. And besides that, there were so many other things that could go wrong – her heart could fail, her bones might not be able to take the change… I shook my head to clear the dark thoughts. I would have to make do.

I didn't leave the hospital that night. I pretended to be on night duty, praying that the other doctors wouldn't notice. From a distance, I watched the party. Melinda's parents were there, as well as several of her friends I didn't recognize. Even a few other child cancer patients were there. The party dragged on and on.

Finally, everyone else left. Melinda and Jesse were left alone. No doctors besides me were in sight, and even they couldn't see me. They crept out of the hospital room and headed down the hallway. I realized they were going towards the doctors' and nurses' break room; Melinda's other friend must have unlocked the door for them when she slipped out of the party earlier. I waited outside the door for an hour while the two talked and kissed.

Not long after they returned to the hospital room, Jesse announced that he had to go to the bathroom. "I can't bear to leave you," he said, gazing at her longingly. "This is the only time we'll get to be together."

"You'll still be able to look at me through a glass window," Melinda told him. "Go ahead, I'll be fine by myself for a few minutes."

I wasn't going to get a better chance than this, I realized. Jesse left the room, and I slipped in before the door closed.

I moved faster than I should have; I could see I was scaring Melinda. Her eyes widened. "Doctor Cullen?" she asked.

"I'm going to make you safe," I said. Melinda didn't even get a chance to protest. I scooped her up in my arms – the poor, weak girl was feather-light – and ran from the room. I ran slower than I usually did, so she wouldn't get sick and so I wouldn't damage her body, but still faster than any human could run. Within minutes we were streaking across the hospital parking lot, and seconds after that across the hills to my home on the outskirts of Atlanta.

"Where are you taking me?" Melinda demanded when I finally slowed. She looked quite pale. I felt her pulse – still a normal rate. The journey didn't seem to have hurt her heart. Good. She would need a strong heart for what was coming.

"You're dying," I informed her. "There's a way I can know this. The BMT wasn't going to work, but there's a better way I can save you."

"Where are you taking me?" she insisted, her voice faint.

"This is my home," I replied simply.

Esme met us at the door. "Is this the girl?" she asked.

"This is Melinda," I informed her. "Melinda, this is my wife, Esme."

"Why am I here?" Melinda asked, beginning to panic. "Why aren't I at the hospital, with all that fancy equipment? Am I really going to die?"

Edward came into the room then. "Not if Carlisle can do anything about it," he said grimly.

Rosalie appeared at the top of the stairs. Melinda's eyes widened at her beauty. "This is insane," Rosalie hissed. "You're putting us all in danger by saving the girl. When you don't show up at the hospital tomorrow, who do you think they're going to suspect? When our house is deserted next week, who are they going to _know_ took her? I can't believe you!" She tossed her blond curls and turned away.

Esme glanced at Melinda apologetically. Alice appeared at my side. "You have to do it soon, Carlisle."

"Can you see if it will work?" I asked hopefully.

To my dismay, Alice shook her head. "You haven't bitten her yet," she explained.

Melinda trembled in my arms. "Bite?" she asked.

I gently laid her on the living room sofa. "Please stay down," I told her. "What I'm going to do to you will hurt a lot, but when it's over, you'll be healed, and the leukemia will be gone. You'll be even stronger than before."

She laughed. "It can't be worse than chemo."

I just shook my head. She had no idea…

I gently removed her shirt. Her chest was so small – it had shrunk along with the rest of her as the sickness drained her strength. I bit down over her left breast, trying to force the venom into her system.

Would one bite be enough? Bella had been quite close to death as well, and Edward had bitten her repeatedly to get the transformation going faster. Melinda's breathing grew more rapid, and I knew I had to decide quickly. When the first ear-piercing scream reached my ears, I bit her wrists as well, sealing the poison in her body, just as Edward had done.

Melinda screamed off and on over the next forty-some hours. I could tell it was working – slowly, her bones were becoming stronger and her body was filling out. I began to hope.

At dawn on the third day, something changed. Her heart began to beat faster. Only Esme sat with me during my silent vigil, watching the girl through her last few hours of torture. "It's going to be all right," I soothed Melinda. "Just a little while longer."

I called to Edward. "Where's Alice?" I asked.

"She went hunting with Jasper," he responded.

I sighed. I'd been hoping to ask her about how much longer it would be.

"Is Rosalie any better?" Esme asked him.

Edward shrugged. "Emmett is trying to calm her down."

"MAKE IT STOP!" Melinda screamed. Her internal fire seemed to have reached its highest point.

Her heart thudded once, twice, thrice more. Then it fell silent.

I gazed upon Melinda. She was beautiful, of course. Her light brown hair was no longer lank, but full-bodied and shone in the light of early morning. By touching her arm gently, I could tell that her bones were stronger, less brittle. She was going to be perfect.

"Melinda," I whispered. "It's over now. Welcome to your new life."

Edward walked over and put is hand on my shoulder. I wasn't quite sure why.

Esme touched Melinda's face gently. "Such a loss."

I nodded in agreement. "I feel so sorry for her family – for the boy, Jesse."

Edward and Esme exchanged glances. Were they keeping secrets?

"Carlisle…" Edward began.

Melinda's eyelids didn't flutter, she didn't sit upright. She didn't even breathe.

I shook her gently. "Melinda."

Esme embraced me. "She won't wake up, Carlisle," Edward said. "Her heart failed."

I had been wrong. She hadn't been strong enough. She had needed a strong heart, and hers had failed.

Even after the last attempt, Leukemia had won.


End file.
